1946 in television

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Last updated January 17, 2025

The year 1946 in television involved some significant events. Below is a list of television-related events during 1946. The number of television programming was increasing after World War II.

Events

February 4 – RCA demonstrates an all-electronic color television system.
February 18 – The first Washington, D.C. – New York City telecast through AT&T corporation's coaxial cable, in which General Dwight Eisenhower places a wreath at the base of the statue in the Lincoln Memorial and others make brief speeches, is termed a success by engineers, although Time magazine calls it "as blurred as an early Chaplin movie."
February 25 – The prewar U.S. 18-channel VHF allocation is officially ended in favor of a new 13-channel VHF allocation due to the appropriation of some frequencies by the military and the relocation of FM radio. Only five of the old channels are the same as new channels in terms of frequency and none have the same number as before.
April 22 – CBS transmits a Technicolor movie short and color slides by coaxial cable from Manhattan to Washington (332 kilometers) and return.
June 7 – The BBC Television Service begins broadcasting again for the first time since 1939. The first words heard are "Good afternoon everybody. How are you? Do you remember me, Jasmine Bligh?". Twenty minutes later, the Mickey Mouse cartoon Mickey's Gala Premiere, last programme transmitted seven years earlier at the start of World War II, is reshown.
June 19 – The first televised heavyweight boxing title fight between Joe Louis and Billy Conn is broadcast from Yankee Stadium. The fight is seen by 141,000 people, the largest television audience to see a boxing match to this date.
July 7 – Broadcasting of the BBC's children's programme For The Children is resumed, one of the few pre-war programmes to resume after reintroduction of the service.
August 4 – Children's puppet "Muffin the Mule" debuts in an episode of the series For the Children. He is so popular he is given his own show later that same year.
September 6 – Chicago's WBKB-TV (now WBBM-TV) commences broadcasting as the first U.S. television station outside the Eastern Time Zone.
September 15 – DuMont Television Network begins broadcasting regularly in the United States.
October 2 – The first television network soap opera, Faraway Hill , is broadcast by DuMont.
October 22 – Telecrime , the first television crime series from the 1930s, is resumed by the BBC, retitled Telecrimes.
December 24 – The first Christmas church service is telecast, Grace Episcopal Church in New York, on WABD.
Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo founds a company, which would later become Sony.
Zoomar introduces the first professional zoom lens for television cameras.
The first postwar television sets are released by the companies RCA, DuMont, Crosley, and Belmont.

Debuts

January 4 - You Be the Judge premieres on CBS^[1]
May 9 – The first regularly scheduled American variety show, Hour Glass , premieres on NBC (1946–1947).
May 23 - Let's Play Reporter premieres on WABD-TV, but produced by ABC
June 9 - Face to Face premieres on NBC (1946–1947).^[2]
June 9 - Geographically Speaking premieres on NBC (1946-1947)
June 20 - Cash and Carry premieres on the DuMont network (1946–1947).
August 30 - I Love to Eat premieres on NBC (1946–1947).
September 24 – Play the Game (1946), a US game show.
October 2 - Faraway Hill , the first network-televised soap opera, debuts on DuMont.
November 2 – Kaleidoscope (UK) (1946–1953).
November 15 - Let's Rhumba premieres on NBC (1946–1947).
November 17 - Television Screen Magazine premieres on NBC (1946–1949).
November 29 – Pinwright's Progress (UK), British television's first situation comedy, debuts on the BBC Television Service (1946–1947).
December 27 - Campus Hoopla premieres (1946–1947).
Boxing From St. Nicholas Arena (1946-1948)
See What You Know (1946-1949)
You Are an Artist premieres on NBC (1946–1950).
Gillette Cavalcade of Sports (1946–1960).
Paging You premieres (1946–1948).
Muffin the Mule (UK) premieres (1946–1955).

Television shows

UK

Series	Debut	Ended
Picture Page (UK)	October 8, 1936	1939
Picture Page (UK)	1946	1952
Starlight (UK)	November 3, 1936	1939
Starlight (UK)	1946	1949
For The Children (UK)	April 24, 1937	1939
For The Children (UK)	July 7, 1946	1950
Telecrime (UK)	August 10, 1938	July 25, 1939
Telecrime (UK)	October 22, 1946	November 25, 1946
Kaleidoscope (UK)	November 2, 1946	1953
Pinwright's Progress (UK)	November 29, 1946	May 16, 1947
Muffin the Mule (UK)	1946	1955
Paging You (UK)	1946	1948

USA

Series	Debut	Ended	Network
Boxing From St. Nicholas Arena	1946	1948	NBC
You Be the Judge	1946	194?	CBS
See What You Know	1946	1949	CBS
Hour Glass	May 9, 1946	March 1947	NBC
Face to Face	June 9, 1946	January 26, 1947	NBC
Geographically Speaking	June 9, 1946	October 1947	NBC
Cash and Carry	June 20, 1946	July 1, 1947	Dumont
I Love to Eat	August 30, 1946	1947	NBC
Play the Game	September 24, 1946	December 17, 1946	Dumont
Faraway Hill	October 2, 1946	December 18, 1946	Dumont
You Are an Artist	November 1, 1946	1950	NBC
Gillette Cavalcade of Sports	November 8, 1946	June 24, 1960	NBC
Let's Rhumba	1946	1947	NBC
Television Screen Magazine	1946	1949	NBC
Campus Hoopla	1946	1947	NBC
Western Movie	1946	1947	Dumont

Programs ending

Date	Show	Debut
June 4	Thrills and Chills Everywhere	August 27, 1941
November 25	Missus Goes a Shopping	1944
November 25	Telecrime (UK)	1938
December 17	Play the Game	1946
Unknown	Paging You	1946

Births

January 5 – Diane Keaton, actress
January 19 – Dolly Parton, country singer and actress
January 20 – David Lynch, director and actor, Twin Peaks (died 2025)
January 24 – Michael Ontkean, Canadian actor, The Rookies , Twin Peaks
January 28 – Don Reo, producer
February 1
- Elisabeth Sladen, English actress, Doctor Who (died 2011)
- Bart Braverman, actor, Vega$
February 2 – Blake Clark, actor, Home Improvement , Boy Meets World
February 7 – Pete Postlethwaite, English actor (died 2011)
February 8 – Alex Diakun, actor
February 13 – Joe Estevez, actor
February 17 – Lynne Moody, actress, Roots
February 20
- Brenda Blethyn, English actress, Vera
- Sandy Duncan, actress, The Hogan Family
February 21
- Tyne Daly, actress, Cagney & Lacey
- Alan Rickman, English actor (died 2016)
March 5 – Michael Warren, actor, Hill Street Blues
March 6 – Martin Kove, actor, Cagney & Lacey
March 7
- John Heard, actor (died 2017)
- Dan Grimaldi, actor
March 12
- Frank Welker, voice actor
- Liza Minnelli, singer and actress
March 15 – Howard E. Scott, singer
March 17 – Harold Ray Brown, singer
March 21 – Timothy Dalton, Welsh actor, Penny Dreadful
March 26 – Johnny Crawford, actor, The Rifleman (died 2020)
April 5 – Jane Asher, English actress
April 8 – Tim Thomerson, actor and comedian
April 10 – David Angell, screenwriter and television producer (died 2001)
April 12 – Ed O'Neill, actor, Married... with Children , Modern Family
April 19 – Tim Curry, English actor and singer, It , The Wild Thornberrys
April 23 – Blair Brown, actress, The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd , Fringe
April 24 – Phil Robertson, American professional hunter
May 1 – Joanna Lumley, English actress, Absolutely Fabulous
May 3 – Greg Gumbel, TV sportscaster
May 7 – Michael Rosen, English children's writer and TV presenter
May 9 – Candice Bergen, actress, Murphy Brown , Boston Legal
May 19 – André the Giant, French professional wrestler (died 1993)
May 20 – Cher, singer and actress, The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour
May 28 – Gladys Knight, singer
May 31 – Maeve Kinkead, soap opera actress
June 1 – Brian Cox, Scottish actor
June 14 – Donald Trump, TV host and twice president of the United States
June 19 – Jennifer Darling, actress, The Six Million Dollar Man , The Bionic Woman
June 20 – Bob Vila, TV host
June 23 – Ted Shackelford, actor, Knots Landing
June 28
- Gilda Radner, actress and comedian, Saturday Night Live (died 1989)
- Bruce Davison, actor
July 6
- George W. Bush, politician
- Fred Dryer, actor, Hunter
- Sylvester Stallone, actor
July 7 – Joe Spano, actor, Hill Street Blues , NCIS
July 9
- Arthur Albert, actor
- Mary-Ellis Bunim, producer (died 2004)
July 13 – Cheech Marin, actor and comedian, Nash Bridges
July 14 – Vincent Pastore, actor, The Sopranos
July 21 – Mel Damski, director
July 22 – Danny Glover, actor and director
July 28 – Linda Kelsey, actress, Lou Grant
August 5 – Erika Slezak, actress, One Life to Live
August 10 – James Reynolds, actor, Days of Our Lives
August 14
- Antonio Fargas, actor, Starsky & Hutch
- Susan Saint James, actress, McMillan and Wife , Kate & Allie
- David Schramm, actor, Wings (died 2020)
August 16 – Lesley Ann Warren, actress and singer, Mission: Impossible
August 19 – Bill Clinton, politician
August 20 – Connie Chung, journalist
August 26 – Mark Snow, composer
August 30 – Peggy Lipton, actress, The Mod Squad , Twin Peaks (died 2019)
September 6 – Loudon Wainwright III, actor
September 25 – Felicity Kendal, English actress, Rosemary and Thyme ^[3]
September 24 – David Anspaugh, director
September 28 – Jeffrey Jones, actor, Deadwood
September 29 – Patricia Hodge, English actress, Miranda
October 3 - Biff Henderson, American comedian
October 4 – Susan Sarandon, actress
October 8 – Lynne Adams, actress
October 10
- Chris Tarrant, English broadcaster
- Ben Vereen, actor
October 11 – Bob Warman, presenter
October 13 – Demond Wilson, actor, Sanford and Son
October 14 – Katy Manning, English actress
October 15 – John Getz, actor
October 16
- Suzanne Somers, actress, Three's Company , Step by Step
- David Greenwalt, screenwriter
October 18 – Howard Shore, Canadian composer
October 26 – Pat Sajak, game show host, Wheel of Fortune
October 27 – Ivan Reitman, screenwriter (died 2022)
October 31 – Stephen Rea, Irish actor
November 2 – Richard Newman, Voice actor
November 4
- Laura Bush, First Lady of the United States ^[4]
- Les Lannom, actor and musician, Harry O
November 6
- Sally Field, actress, Gidget , The Flying Nun , Brothers & Sisters
- Fred Penner, actor and musician, Fred Penner's Place
November 20 – Judy Woodruff, broadcast journalist
November 25 – Marc Brown, author and creator of Arthur
November 28 – Joe Dante, actor
December 1 – Jonathan Katz, actor
December 14
- Patty Duke, actress, The Patty Duke Show (died 2016)
- Lynne Marie Stewart, actress
December 16 – Terence Knox, actor, St. Elsewhere , Tour of Duty
December 17 – Eugene Levy, actor
December 18 – Steven Spielberg, American director
December 19 – Robert Urich, actor, Vega$ , Spenser for Hire (died 2002)
December 20 – Dick Wolf, television producer
December 23 – Susan Lucci, actress, All My Children

Deaths

June 14 – John Logie Baird, engineer, one of the inventors of the mechanical television, 57^[5]
December 25 – W. C. Fields, US actor and comedian, 66^[6]

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References

↑ Schrader, Marty (January 12, 1946). "You Be the Judge". Billboard. p. 11. Retrieved 17 August 2017.
↑ Brooks, Tim; Marsh, Earle F. (2009). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present. Random House Publishing Group. p. 441. ISBN 9780307483201 . Retrieved 19 August 2017.
↑ Newcomb, Horace (3 February 2014). Encyclopedia of Television. Routledge. p. 1246. ISBN 978-1-135-19472-7.
↑ "Laura Bush". HISTORY. 2018-09-12. Retrieved 2024-07-22.
↑ "125th birthday of the inventor of television John Logie Baird". Hastings Observer. 2 September 2013. Archived from the original on 31 January 2016. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
↑ "W.C. Fields, 66, Dies; Famed as Comedian – Mimicry Star of the Films Since 1924 Got Start as a $5-a-Week Juggler – Rarely Followed Script – Raspy Remarks and 'Know-It-All' Perspective Made Him Nation-Wide Character". New York Times. Associated Press. December 26, 1946. p. 25. Retrieved October 9, 2017.

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[bb-1] Schrader, Marty (January 12, 1946). "You Be the Judge". Billboard. p. 11. Retrieved 17 August 2017.

[cdpt-2] Brooks, Tim; Marsh, Earle F. (2009). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present. Random House Publishing Group. p. 441. ISBN 9780307483201 . Retrieved 19 August 2017.

[3] Newcomb, Horace (3 February 2014). Encyclopedia of Television. Routledge. p. 1246. ISBN 978-1-135-19472-7.

[4] "Laura Bush". HISTORY. 2018-09-12. Retrieved 2024-07-22.

[5] "125th birthday of the inventor of television John Logie Baird". Hastings Observer. 2 September 2013. Archived from the original on 31 January 2016. Retrieved 26 January 2016.

[6] "W.C. Fields, 66, Dies; Famed as Comedian – Mimicry Star of the Films Since 1924 Got Start as a $5-a-Week Juggler – Rarely Followed Script – Raspy Remarks and 'Know-It-All' Perspective Made Him Nation-Wide Character". New York Times. Associated Press. December 26, 1946. p. 25. Retrieved October 9, 2017.

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